Keith Fordyce: Unflappable host of ‘Ready Steady Go!’ | The Independent Monday 28 March 2011 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Online The easy-going and avuncular Keith Fordyce was the highly reliable host of the chaotic live, beat music programme, Ready Steady Go!, which started in 1963. Part of its attraction was the potential for things going wrong and Fordyce was the ideal person to restore order. Keith Fordyce Marriott – he was to drop his surname as a professional broadcaster – was born in Lincoln on in 1928 and went to The Lincoln School. His father encouraged his sporting prowess and in 1946, he won the Lincolnshire Junior Tennis Championship. In the forces, he worked as an announcer and producer for the Forces Broadcasting Service, where his commanding officer was another radio personality, Cliff Michelmore. Fordyce gained a wide experience in presenting record programmes, which he put to good use in civilian life. After the forces, Fordyce studied for a law degree at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and he was the president of the University Law Society during 1951-52.

Fordyce founded and edited the university's sports magazine, Light Blue. On obtaining his degree, he worked as a football commentator for BBC TV, his first broadcast being on the Leyton v Hereford match on 22 November 1952. A comment on the BBC's files says that "his voice lacked crispness". Fordyce presented a flagship programme, Housewives' Choice, for a week in August 1955, and this time the assessment was "Professionally-modulated, virile voice and not too smooth; but no strong character, no indication of extra entertainment potential." Also in 1955, Fordyce fought a municipal election for the Conservatives and won a seat on Wimbledon Council, but he was to move to Radio Luxembourg as a staff announcer. He presented their weekly Top Twenty programme and stayed with the station for three years. As a journalist, he wrote for New Musical Express and two records by unknowns that he correctly tipped for No 1 were "Diana" by Paul Anka in 1957 and "When" by the Kalin Twins the following year. In 1960, he compèred Jack Good's ITV show Wham!

which featuredBilly Fury, Little Tony and Dickie Pride. That was short-lived but he became the original host for Thank Your Lucky Stars and the Sunday morning radio show, Easy Beat. By and large, hedidn't comment on the music, but on one memorable Thank Your Lucky Stars, he said that the British singers, Craig Douglas, Mark Wynter and Jimmy Justice were all better than Ricky Nelson. In April 1963 he interviewed the Beatles on the BBC's Pop Inn and he had many contacts with them during the 1960s. He hosted the Granada TV tribute to them, The Music Of Lennon And McCartney, in 1966. Over the years, he remained the true professional and refused to tell background stories. In August 1963 Fordyce hosted the first edition of Ready Steady Go! for Associated Rediffusion and it was thought that his know-how would help the inexperience of Cathy McGowan and Michael Aldred.

The chaos was all too real, especially on one programme where Marianne Faithfull was to walk down a spiral staircase lip syncing to "Blowin' In The Wind", but the wrong record was cued – the Kinks' "All Day And All Of The Night". The cameras switched to Fordyce to save the day. Among his more embarrassing duties was to preside over a weekly mime competition. Still, he preferred Ready Steady Go! to being the straight man for Groucho Marx in his only UK television series. "Keith Fordyce may have been much more experienced than Cathy McGowan and Michael Aldred," says Billy Hatton of the hit-making Liverpool band, the Fourmost, "but at times you didn't think so. When he interviewed the Beach Boys, he asked them if surfing was a music or a sport and they looked at each other as if to say, 'Who is this guy?' It was a difficult show to manage and the audience could be unruly. When we were singing 'Baby I Need Your Loving', a girl grabbed my balls.

Fortunately the camera was on my face but you could see the sudden change in my expression." Through the 1960s and '70s, Fordyce hosted variety shows and quizzes on television and radio including Come Dancing and Miss World. In 1979, he was the first presenter of Radio 2's Sounds Of The Sixties and on the same day, he presented the quiz show, Beat The Record. During the 1980s, he followed another passion by running the Torbay Aircraft Museum in Paignton. He broadcast locally on Radio Solent and Radio Devon. He wanted to broadcast until he died but he developed Alzheimer's and was forced to retire. Keith Fordyce Marriott (Keith Fordyce), radio and television presenter: born Lincoln 15 October 1928; married (four children); died Devon 15 March 2011. More about: Ready Steady Go | Rock Peaks Ready Steady Go Know a thing or two about this show? Want to help make this page better? Earn points and win prizes.

Find out what's involved Track 3 days 4 hours ago Read the original article on Wikipedia Ready Steady Go on Wikipedia Ready Steady Go Presenter Cathy McGowan and producer Elkan Allan. Starring Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan Production Associated Rediffusion, (weekday franchisee of the ITV network in London at the time) Release Original release 9 August 1963[2] – 23 December 1966 Ready Steady Go! (or RSG!) was a British rock/pop music television programme every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light entertainment programme different from the low-brow style of light entertainment transmitted by ATV. The programme was produced without scenery or costumes and with a minimum of choreography and make-up. Allan recruited a fellow journalist, Francis Hitching, as producer. Hitching became a major figure in light entertainment in the 1960s. Robert Fleming was the first director, followed by the documentary director Rollo Gamble, then Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Daphne Shadwell and Peter Croft.

The programme was produced by Associated-Rediffusion, the weekday ITV contractor for London, called Rediffusion-London after 1964. The live show was eventually networked nationally. The show gained its highest ratings on 20 March 1964 when it featured the Beatles being interviewed and performing "It Won't Be Long", "You Can't Do That" and "Can't Buy Me Love" - the last a hit at the time. RSG! USA! was a Dick Clark production in 1964. A trademark infringement suit ended the show after six episodes. Contents 6 External links Description The show went out early on Friday evenings with the line "The weekend starts here!", and was introduced by the Surfaris' "Wipe Out", later by Manfred Mann's "5-4-3-2-1", then Manfred Mann's "Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble", then the Stones, lastly, with "Goin Home"). It was more youth-orientated and informal than its BBC rival (from 1964), Top of the Pops. It was notable for featuring the audience as dancers and for the interaction of artists and audience.

Artists appeared on different mini-stages, sometimes on studio gantries and stairs, or on the main floor for solo artists, closely surrounded by the audience. The producers chose the audience in London clubs, picking out the best or the most fashionably dressed dancers. This ensured a hip audience in tune with the artists. Owing to scheduling of local news in parts of the UK, several ITV regions joined the show part-way through. Initially, RSG! artists mimed but by late 1964 some performed live and the show switched to all-live performances in April 1965.[3] It was noted for allowing artists to perform the full version of songs rather than short versions demanded by other shows. The programme was never broadcast in the United States, perhaps because it was in black and white when ABC, CBS and NBC were converting to full colour. The show was recorded at small studios in Rediffusion's headquarters in Kingsway, London. Although the company had bigger facilities at Wembley in the west of the capital, it was easier to attract stars and audiences to central London. As the studios were compact it was not possible to hide cameras.

The ever-present cameras, which were large with rotating lens turrets rather than zooms, were sometimes incorporated into the action, notably in a Manfred Mann performance of Machines which ended with Paul Jones singing crouched on the floor surrounded by cameras. RSG was originally from Studio 9 in Kingsway when artists mimed; it later moved to Studio 5 at Wembley, enabling artists to perform live. Artists' own recorded backing tracks were not allowed by the Musicians' Union so the whole of Studio 5 (normally divided into 5a and 5b) was used so an orchestra could perform the backing live. The show was popular among young people. It had a particular following among the mod youth subculture of the 1960s.[4] In late 1966, when the 'beat boom' was fading, the show was cancelled, despite its popularity. Dave Clark bought the rights to the surviving recordings.

Compilations were broadcast on Channel 4 in the 1980s and VHS videos included a Beatles live special[5] and The Sounds of Motown special edition.[6] In 1989 the show was seen for the first time in the US, on Disney Channel. During that time, Disney was a pay channel aimed at adults at night. Ready Steady Go! has not been officially released on DVD. Presenters and producers The best known presenters were Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan, though early shows were introduced by Dusty Springfield. The show was occasionally presented by David Gell and Michael Aldred. Both McGowan and Aldred joined after answering an advertisement for "a typical teenager" as adviser. They found themselves presenting the show, and McGowan's status as a fan was evident in her style; stumbling over lines, losing her cool and her inexperience made her more rather than less popular, and by the end she was presenting alone. She also joined in fun and games, including miming with the Rolling Stones to other people's records, notably "I Got You Babe".

Featured artists It featured most successful artists of the era, among them the Who, the Beatles, the Hollies, the Merseybeats, the Zombies, Dusty Springfield, the Supremes, the Temptations, the Walker Brothers, the Kinks, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Fourmost, the Rolling Stones, Donovan (discovered by RSG!), the Fortunes, Helen Shapiro, P.J. Proby, Otis Redding, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Dave Clark Five, Bobby Vee, the Animals, Cilla Black, Gulliver's People, the Searchers, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, Billy Fury, Lulu, Marvin Gaye, Gene Pitney, the Beach Boys, Sandie Shaw, Burt Bacharach, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Lynch, the Small Faces, the Shirelles, James Brown & the Famous Flames, the Yardbirds, Them and the Four Pennies.

During the 4 October 1963 episode — The Beatles' first appearance — Paul McCartney judged four teenage girls miming to Brenda Lee's "Let's Jump the Broomstick" (the group had opened for Lee before becoming famous), choosing 13-year-old Melanie Coe as winner. Three years later, after Coe's disappearance made the front page of the Daily Mirror, McCartney used the article as the basis for "She's Leaving Home". Jimi Hendrix made his first television appearance in Britain on RSG! with "Hey Joe", performing solo. After this, his club tour sold out and he was added to a nationwide tour by the Walker Brothers. Dusty Springfield devised and introduced the RSG Motown Special in April 1965, featuring the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Miracles and Martha and the Vandellas, which was a VHS video in the 1980s.[7] The Supremes performed their "Stop! In the Name of Love" dance routine for the first time on the show. The Who proved particularly popular, making the most appearances of any artist - A total of 18 between January 1965 and December 1966.

The band had an episode to themselves entitled Ready Steady Who, broadcast in October 1966. The Walker Brothers were also popular and had a live edition in 1966 but the tape was wiped, although extracts surfaced on YouTube in 2009 proving the group did not mime. In popular culture In 1965 the programme was parodied in The Benny Hill Show (Hill impersonated Cathy McGowan, Peter & Gordon and a singer named P. J. Orbison (the amalgam of the names of P. J. Proby and Roy Orbison). Although not mentioned by name.. Ready, Steady, Go! was parodied in the 1967 film Bedazzled featuring comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (who both appeared on RSG!) - The song was filmed on the actual RSG set in late 1966. In the mod film Quadrophenia, the main character is watching the Who perform on Ready Steady Go!.

In episode 3 of Alan Plater's 1995 TV drama Oliver's Travels, Oliver (played by Alan Bates) says "Ready, Steady, Go!", to which his B&B hostess (played by Molly Sugden) replies, "If you're old enough to know that, you're as old as you look." English group Generation X wrote a song about the show "Ready Steady Go" in 1978, which made various references and had the lyric "because I'm in love with Cathy McGowan". As part of the Southbank's Meltdown Festival 2011, curator Ray Davies recreated Ready Steady Go on Saturday 11 June.[8][9] References ^ Producers Retrieved on 2013-12-12. ^ Ian Inglis, Popular Music And Television In Britain (Ashgate Publishing, 2010) pp71-72 ^ Tv.com Ready Steady Goes Live! Episode Number: 88 Season Num: 2 First Aired: 2 April 1965 - Accessed February 2007.

^ Ready Steady Gone Johnnie Taylor, Modculture.com, Accessed April 2011 ^ The Beatles Live - Ready Steady Go Special Edition (1964) ^ Ready Steady Go! Special Edition - The Sounds of Motown ^ Ready Steady Go! Special Edition - The Sounds of Motown ^ Caspar Llewellyn Smith (24 March 2011). "Ray Davies reveals lineup for 2011 Meltdown festival". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-05-21. ^ "Meltdown First Anouncement ". Festivals for All. 25 March 2011. Retrieved 2012-05-21. External links Ready Steady Go at the Internet Movie Database Ready Steady Go! at TV.com Feature on RSG! from Retrosellers.com With archive pictures. Ready, Steady, Go at Nostalgia Central. Ready Steady Go! at Television Heaven . Accessed April 2007. Ready Steady Win Keith Fordyce, British radio and television presenter (Ready Steady Go!) died he was , 82.

| Kterrl's Video Favorites kterrls Video Favorites Keith Fordyce, British radio and television presenter (Ready Steady Go!) died he was , 82. Keith Fordyce was an English disc jockey and former presenter on British radio and television. He is most famous as the first presenter of ITV’s Ready Steady Go! in 1963 died he was , 82.. (15 October 1928 – 15 March 2011 ) Career Born Keith Fordyce Marriott in Lincoln , he attended Lincoln School and later studied law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge . He first came to the attention of British radio listeners when he arrived at Radio Luxembourg in 1955 to become a staff announcer in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg where he was later joined by Barry Alldis . Fordyce later worked for the BBC Light Programme in the 1960s, with such programs as the lunchtime Pop In show, and went on to host the television talent show Thank Your Lucky Stars [2] On 9 August 1963 he presented the first edition of Ready Steady Go!

on Associated Rediffusion television, being joined subsequently by Cathy McGowan [3] who took over the show when Fordyce left in 1965. In 1968 he provided the commentary for the BBC’s first colour test transmission on BBC 2 , the first men’s singles final of the Open era at Wimbledon . [4] In the early 80s, he rejoined Radio Luxembourg in the Grand Duchy after Barry Alldis’s death, working in the Villa Louvigny again for six months. On 12 February 1983 he was the first presenter of Radio 2’s Sounds of the ’60s . He also hosted Radio 2’s Beat The Record for many years. He later hosted a record programme on west of England local radio. [2] Prior to his retirement Fordyce worked for the BBC Regional service in Devon, based at the Radio Devon studios, doing regular weekend shows. Personal life Fordyce retired in Devon with his wife Anne. He died on 15 March 2011 aged 82 after suffering from pneumonia and Alzheimer’s Disease .

[5] [1] To see more of who died in 2010 click here Like this: The Beatles’ 1963 Revisited | MOJO The Beatles’ 1963 Revisited By Phil Alexander July 1, 2013 IT’S JULY 1, 1963 AND at London’s Abbey Road Studios a song is recorded that will change the world, the lit fuse of the most extraordinary pop culture explosion of the 20th Century. It’s called She Loves You, the work of a Liverpudlian four-piece three singles (the last, From Me To You, their first UK Number 1) and one album old, not yet thoroughly Fab, but already pretty damn great. The Beatles’ 1963, already manic in the extreme, is about to propel them into a mind-blowing transmogrification. By the end of the year they will be legends, aliens, avatars. Weird hardly describes it, but there were upsides, of sorts… “We found girls hiding in the ceiling at Abbey Road,” reveals Paul McCartney, revisiting Beatlemania in an exclusive interview in this month’s MOJO.

“We were recording and we heard some sort of noise. They eventually found out that high up in the ceiling there’s maintenance ducts and there was a few fans who’d managed to get in there who were getting a bird’s eye view of the session. So that was like, Oh boy.” MOJO’s 1963 focus unearths a bevy of other untold stories. How The Beatles’ 1963 support act Roy Orbison stemmed the screaming (clue: “Pianissimo…”). Why the group were “strange and slightly scary”. And why Cavern DJ Bob Wooler was punched by John Lennon. It’s Beatlemania in all its two-fisted glory and here, in seven short instalments, is what it looked (and sounded) like… 1. She Loves You Recorded on July 1 and issued on August 23, 1963, She Loves You is the song that crystallised Beatlemania in a musical sense, its call-and-response vocal proving irresistibly infectious – a point borne out by the fanatical audience reaction captured on this pre-release promo film.

“I have it from a reliable source that a half million advance orders have been made for The Beatles’ latest single release, She Loves You. It looks as though it could well be three Number 1s in a row for the Liverpool boys,” comments Brian Matthew. He was not wrong, as She Loves You went on to become The Beatles’ biggest selling UK single of all time. 2. The Mersey Sound “This is a story about a special kind of noise. A noise worth a small fortune. A noise that has made a provincial city, for a time at least, the metropolis of pop music. This is the story of The Mersey Sound.” Cue perfectly stage-managed scenes of everyday mania – the most impressive of which is Ringo Starr’s attempt to leave his house with small, screaming children literally hanging off him – in a film that captured The Beatles on home turf alongside fellow Scousers The Undertakers and Group One. Shot between August 27 and 30 by BBC producer Don Haworth, the live footage of The Beatles performing Twist And Shout and She Loves You comes from the Little Theatre on Hoghton Street, Southport, and was filmed without an audience, in order to allow minimal fan disruption.

Footage of frenzied teens was then cut in from a performance at the Southport Odeon. 3. Ready! Steady! Go! “The Weekend Starts Here!” proclaimed Ready! Steady! Go!’s opening titles, and on Friday October 4, 1963, that promise came with an added frisson of excitement as The Beatles made their debut on the show. “What was their name again?” jokes guest presenter Dusty Springfield as she introduces a version of Twist And Shout. Later, she asks a number of fan-sourced questions. “How about your hair? Is it real? Or is it a wig?” 4. Thank Your Lucky Stars Before defecting to Ready! Steady! Go! in the summer of 1963, presenter Keith Fordyce was one of the key presenters on Thank Your Lucky Stars, the pre-eminent pop programme of its day, made by ABC for ITV. The Beatles had made their first appearance on the show on January 19, bottom of a seven act bill, and performed their second single, Please Please Me.

Four further appearances followed, their fifth coming on October 20 and proving a crowning moment for the four when 3000 fans were locked outside the studios. 5. The Beatles Come To Town “The manager makes sure that his staff is ready for the biggest night of the year, and able to cope with a terrific audience response evoked everywhere by The Beatles,” states the plummy-voiced narrator, introducing this remarkable access-all-areas short that chronicles John, Paul, George and Ringo’s two-night stand in November at the 2500-capacity ABC cinema in Ardwick, Manchester, where the backstage security consists of “just one copper”. The film itself is shown with the “generous permission of their famous manager, Brian Epstein”. Thanks, Mr E. 6. The Royal Variety Performance “Are you going to lose some of your Liverpool dialect for the Royal show?” asks a BBC reporter, quizzing The Beatles in the run-up to the band’s Royal Variety Performance on November 4, 1963. “No, we don’t all speak like the BBC,” smarts Paul.

It’s a theme he returns to in the new issue of MOJO magazine, in which we trace the band’s rise from the summer of ’63 to the release of their second album, With The Beatles. The events that led to Lennon’s infamous “just rattle your jewelry” line (08:07) are also revealed in the same said issue of the magazine. 7. From Beatleland… An exclusive bulletin from “Beatleland, formerly known as Britain” by the laconic Alexander Kendrick, broadcast on November 21 on CBS television, was one of the first reports to reach America detailing the impact of The Beatles phenomena in Britain, the former war correspondent warning of the effect of the band’s “dishmop hairstyles” on “screaming, swinging juveniles.” Never have the words ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’ been uttered with such a knowing lack of conviction. Beatles Video Of The Day: The Beatles on "Ready Steady Go!" Wednesday, 8 April 2015 The Beatles on "Ready Steady Go!" The Beatles, Helen Shapiro, Dusty Springfield, Eden Kane and Keith Fordyce on the set of RSG! Ready Steady Go!

(or RSG!) was a British rock/pop music television programme every Friday evening from August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allans wanted a light entertainment programme different from the "bums and tits" style of light entertainment transmitted by ATV. The programme was produced without scenery or costumes and with a minimum of choreography and make-up. Allan recruited a fellow journalist, Francis Hitching, as producer. Hitching became a major figure in light entertainment in the 1960s. Robert Fleming was the first director, followed by the documentary director Rollo Gamble, then Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Daphne Shadwell and Peter Croft. The programme was produced by Associated-Rediffusion, the weekday ITV contractor for London, called Rediffusion-London after 1964. The live show was eventually networked nationally. The show gained its highest ratings on 20 March 1964 when it featured the Beatles being interviewed and performing "It Won't Be Long", "You Can't Do That" and "Can't Buy Me Love".

That particular show also starred Dusty Springfield, Bobby Vee, The Animals, Alma Cogan and Millicent Martin. With the growing increase in popularity the show was extended and moved to a 50 minute slot starting at 6:08 p.m. The Beatles performed on the show on three occasions. Unlike their appearances on other regular UK TV shows "Top of the Pops" and "Thank Your Lucky Stars", all Beatles material from "Ready Steady Go!" has survived. In the eighties, this material was used to produce several archival episodes of "Ready Steady Go!" for TV as well as products for the home video market. The show went out early on Friday evenings with the line "The weekend starts here!", and was introduced by the Surfaris' "Wipe Out", later by Manfred Mann's "5-4-3-2-1", then Manfred Mann's "Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble", then the Stones, lastly, with "Goin Home"). It was more youth-orientated and informal than its BBC rival (from 1964), "Top of the Pops". It was notable for featuring the audience as dancers and for the interaction of artists and audience.

Artists appeared on different mini-stages, sometimes on studio gantries and stairs, or on the main floor for solo artists, closely surrounded by the audience. The producers choose the audience in London clubs, picking out the best or the most fashionably dressed dancers. This ensured a hip audience in tune with the artists. Initially, RSG! artists mimed but by late 1964 some performed live, and the show switched to all-live performances in April 1965. It was noted for allowing artists to perform the full version of songs rather than short versions demanded by other shows. The show was recorded at small studios in Rediffusion's headquarters in Kingsway, London. Although the company had bigger facilities at Wembley, it was easier to attract stars and audiences to central London. The best known presenters of the show were Keith Fordyce and Cathy McGowan, though early shows were introduced by Dusty Springfield. Cathy McGowan was recruited as an advisor from 600 applicants, and had been in the fashion department of "Woman's Own". While McGowan had answered an advert for 'a typical teenager' to work as an advisor, she found herself presenting the show.

Her strength was that her status as a fan of the artists was evident in her style; stumbling over her lines, losing her cool and apparent inexperience only made her more popular, and by the end she was presenting the show alone. She may have been the inspiration for Susan Campy from the Beatles' 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night", when George Harrison tells the producer of a fictitious teen television show that Campy is "... that posh bird who gets everything wrong", to which the producer played by Kenneth Haigh replies, "She's a trendsetter. It's her profession." McGowan was the same age as the national audience; she wore all the latest trendy shifts and mini-dresses; and she spoke with an earnest, ceaseless barrage of teenage slang, praising whatever was 'fab' or 'smashing', and damning all that was 'square' or 'out'. Cathy McGowan: "Keith Fordyce, the other presenter on the show, was down to interview John, leaving me with Paul, George and Ringo. Bit of a job, you might think, interviewing three Beatles. That's what I thought. But they could not have been more considerate.

They sat down with me over tea to help work out the kind of things we might discuss. During transmission, they seemed to sense when I was having to think hard about the next question, and they just kept on talking till I was ready. They even asked me questions from time to time". From Keith Badman's book: " The Beatles Off The Record ". Friday 4 October, 1963 The Beatles performed three songs during their first of three appearances on Ready, Steady, Go! The show was recorded at Television House on London's Kingsway. During the afternoon The Beatles rehearsed for the cameras, and recording took place from 6.15pm onwards. "A friend was designing sets for Ready, Steady, Go!, and he invited me to their first live TV performance. They were wearing the famous grey, buttoned-up suits, which really stood out at the time. I was the only one at the rehearsal when they played this song. To me it sounded like very good rock 'n' roll. But it wasn't just the music, it was their personalities, the way they looked, the whole thing." Peter Blake, artist.

The Beatles mimed to "Twist And Shout", "I'll Get You" and "She Loves You", and were interviewed by hosts Dusty Springfield and host Keith Fordyce . Helen Shapiro made an appearance performing the song "Look Who It Is" in a sequence with three of The Beatles. When asked why only three of the four Beatles (facing away from the cameras until she turns them around) she advised "The song had just three verses, so only three of them could appear. They flipped a coin, or something, to see who would be on, and Paul came up short." The episode was transmitted from 6.15-7pm. During a competition of miming performances, Paul McCartney was the judge, and he chose Melanie Coe as the winner. A few years later, Melanie created news headlines when she ran away from home. The headline inspired McCartney to pen his song "She's Leaving Home", not realising that he had actually met the girl! The performance of "She Loves You" was repeated on RSG! on 8 November 1963, and the full set was shown again during a special New Year show on 31 December.

Friday, 20 March, 1964 Recording took place at Television House on London's Kingsway. Following a quick rehearsal The Beatles appeared on the show, which was broadcast live from 6.15pm-7pm. The Beatles mimed to three songs: "It Won't Be Long", "You Can't Do That" and "Can't Buy Me Love". During the show they also took part in a mock fashion parade and were given an award from US magazine Billboard in recognition of holding the top three singles chart positions simultaneously. They were also interviewed by host Cathy McGowan. The performance of "Can't Buy Me Love" was broadcast again at 6.10pm on 24 April, during the show Ready, Steady, Go To Montreux!, and again on 15 July 1965 on the programme "Pick Of The Songs". "In March 1964 The Beatles were appearing and a huge crowd started to form in the morning up Kingsway. When we opened the big glass doors at the front of the building there was mayhem and the doors buckled and nearly smashed. The police had to be called and several avid fans managed to get in through the boiler room.

Good for them! Suddenly the meaning of FAME and how big they were hit home." Vicki Wickham, editor of the original Ready Steady Go! series, and also Dusty Springfield’s manager. Monday 23 November 1964 The Beatles recorded their third and final performance for pop music show Ready, Steady, Go!, this time at Wembley Studios in London. Members of the audience clapped and danced while the group performed. The Beatles mimed to four songs: "I Feel Fine", "She's A Woman", "Baby's In Black" and "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!". They were also interviewed by presenter Keith Fordyce. The recording was edited into the 27 November 1964 edition of the show, broadcast from 6.08-7pm on the ITV network.

Friday 16 April 1965 In early 1965 the Musicians' Union threatened to 'black' the show if the lip-synch miming to recorded music wasn't stopped by 31st March, so April 1965 saw a temporary name change to 'Ready Steady Goes Live' to highlight the fact that, for the first time, all the artists were actually singing, and performing to live backing music. After having performed on the show Ready, Steady, Go! on three prior occasions, The Beatles preferred not to do so again. However, in order to promote their "Ticket To Ride" single, John Lennon and George Harrison gave an interview at production company Rediffusion's Wembley Studios. The Good Friday show was broadcast live from 6.08-7pm. Lennon and Harrison were interviewed by the host Cathy McGowan. The other guests included Adam Faith, Doris Troy, The Kinks and Herman's Hermits. In late 1966, when the 'beat boom' was fading, the show was cancelled, despite its popularity.

Michael Lindsay-Hogg: "Most of the shows were wiped because tape was so expensive, so stuff like the James Brown special and The Who special are gone forever. I took home £37 a week but, every so often, I'd buy a video tape and preserve it. It cost me £1 a minute, but the only reason any shows survive is because I did that." According to " LostShows ", out of an original total of 178 episodes, 170 episodes are missing and a further 3 are incomplete. Eighties revival In December 1981, it was announced that drummer Dave Clark from the Dave Clark Five had bought all footage and copyrights to the surviving recordings from the estate of the original production company and planned to release it worldwide. Lucky for him and us, all the Beatles' appearances on the show had been preserved. Compilations released on VHS as well as Beta video cassettes included a Beatles live special and The Sounds of Motown special edition. A video cassette series titled Volume one, respectively two and three were also compiled from many performances with different groups and artists on the show. Released by Picture Music International in association with Dave Clark International, the following Beatles performances were included.

Ready Steady Go! Volume 1 released in November 1983, featured The Beatles' performances of "You Can't Do That" and "Can't Buy Me Love" from March 1964. Ready Steady Go! Volume 2 released in May 1984, featured The Beatles' performances of "Twist and Shout" and "She Loves You" from the 1963 show. Ready Steady Go! Volume 3 released in November 1984, featured The Beatles' performances of "She's A Woman", "Baby's In Black" and "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey" from November 1964, as well as interviews with the Beatles. In June 1985, the first of seven TV episodes titled "The Weekend starts here" (catch phrase of the original RSG! series) was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK and during its run, the television series had quite a bit more footage than previously released on video cassettes. In the USA, the video cassettes were also released as laserdiscs by Pioneer - Picture Music International.

In Japan and Norway, a special edition of just The Beatles' performances on Ready Steady Go! was released on laserdisc (Japan) and video cassette (Norway). Japan Laserdisc The contents of this laserdisc/video cassette was: Love Me Do (just played over captions) Twist and Shout Interview with John, Paul, George and Ringo It Won't Be Long Interview with the group including Billboard award for singles no 1, 2 and 3 in the US chart and an interview with Paul. You Can't Do That Can't Buy Me Love Interview with Ringo Please Mr Postman (over shots of the group, Ringo dancing) Interview with John about his book I Feel Fine This Boy (over shots of the group with fans' painting contest) She's A Woman Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey! Interview with the group

Question: Who was the first presenter of 'Ready Steady Go', in August 1963?
Answer: Keith Fordyce